388 
Story  of  the  Pap  aw. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
August,  lfiOl. 
Papoid  is  a  German  production,  and,  according  to  the  statement 
of  the  manufacturers,  it  is  prepared  by  precipitation  from  a  watery 
extract  of  the  papaw  juice  or  milk.  It  consists  essentially  of  globu- 
lin and  albumose,  associated  with  the  ferments,  and  in  addition  it 
contains  a  small  amount  of  natural  inorganic  salts.  This  prepara- 
tion was  used  by  the  writer  in  a  previous  communication,  and  by 
Chittenden,  (See  "  Papoid  Digestion  "  Transactions  of  Connecticut 
Academy,  Vol.  IX,  1892.) 
The  action  of  this  ferment  presents  features  which  contrast 
peculiarly  with  those  of  the  ordinary  digestive  ferments.  Direct 
comparison  of  the  enzyme  of  the  papaw  with  any  other  ferment  is 
practically  impossible,  and  this  is  especially  true  as  to  its  behavior 
in  comparison  with  the  animal  ferments. 
The  action  of  most  ferments  is  inhibited  by  the  products  of  diges- 
tive action  ;  such  does  not  seem  to  be  the  effect  in  the  case  of  the 
papaw  enzyme.  It  acts  in  a  concentrated  solution,  even  when 
carrying  products  of  its  own  action.  Certain  of  my  experiments 
tend  to  show,  however,  that  this  enzyme  has  a  notable  action  in  a 
stream  of  running  water.  In  other  words,  its  action  seems  to  be 
continuous,  and  the  ferment  is  not  removed  by  washing  or  by  the 
action  of  fluids  in  which  it  is  soluble.  One  such  experiment  was  as 
follows : 
Two  ounces  of  raw  lean  beef  were  cut  into  slices,  over  which  was 
poured  an  alkaline  solution  of  the  papaw  ferments.  The  beef  was 
allowed  to  remain  in  this  solution  for  half  an  hour,  during  which 
time  the  solution  was  fairly  well  absorbed  and  the  beef  somewhat 
softened.  The  whole  was  then  wrapped  in  a  filter  paper,  transferred 
to  a  fine  muslin  bag ;  this  bag  and  contents  were  placed  under  a 
faucet  of  running  water  and  allowed  to  remain  for  five  hours. 
Upon  opening  the  bag  it  was  found  that  only  a  few  shreds  of  meat 
remained. 
In  order  to  demonstrate  that  the  action  was  not  that  of  a  washing 
away  process  due  to  force  of  the  water,  a  check  experiment  was 
made  without  the  ferment,  here  the  loss  in  weight  only  amounted  to 
about  fifty  per  cent. 
This  experiment  seems  to  show  that  the  enzyme  combined  with 
and  hydrated  the  fibres  of  the  meat.  The  products  of  this  combi- 
nation are  soluble,  and  are  removed  by  the  action  of  water  or  other 
fluids;  furthermore,  in  the  process  of  washing  away  the  soluble 
